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The European Year of Creativity and Innovation launched in Prague

The European Year of Creativity and Innovation was launched by the Czech Presidency and the Commission at a
conference on 7 January 2009 in the Czech Senate. The motto of this European Year is: ’Imagine. Create. Innovate’.

The morning roundtable was presided by former Prime Minister of Finland Esko Aho.

The programme of the whole day was very rich. In the morning, an expert round-table meeting was chaired by the former
Prime Minister of Finland Esko Aho. Other participants included approximately ten Ambassadors of the European Year.
Among them was Ernö Rubik, the inventor of the famous Rubik’s cube. These prominent personalities from the world of
creativity and innovation accepted the recommendation for the Governments and Institutions of the European Union,
that Mr. Aho introduced at noon at the press conference by the following words: "The future of
Europe is extremely dependent on the system of education. 2009 is the European Year of Creativity and Innovation also
at a personal level. We need to build on the contribution of innovation."

Then followed the launch conference in the Knight’s Hall of the Wallenstein Palace whose
participants were national delegates of the Member States of the EU, representatives of the European Commission,
officials of the Czech Government and the aforementioned Ambassadors of the European Year. The meeting was opened by
Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Ondřej Liška. Other keynote speakers included European Commissioner Ján
Figeľ and Culture Minister Václav Jehlička. The participants discussed the possibility of creative and innovative
approaches in the areas of trade, industry, education, science and culture in the light of the global economic
recession. The conference was held in parallel with to the visit of the European Commission to the Czech
Republic.

Minister Liška emphasised in his speech the importance of larger investments in education as an effective
tool for fighting the economic crisis. He stated that: “Good quality education is a way to prevent crises.
Our future success depends on our ability to adapt to a fast-changing world. Thus we need to give an utmost space to
every single pupil to make the best of his/her own potential.”

To conclude, Prime Minister Topolánek and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, officially
pronounced the year 2009 the European Year of Creativity and Innovation during the official gala evening to launch
the Czech EU Presidency in the National Theatre.

The European Commission has created the following website for the European Year: http://www.create2009.europa.eu. The calendar of events and news that will be
continually updated during the year, promotional material and information on results of individual events as well as
independent websites for the partners of the year will be accessible from this website. A special section is devoted
to events to be held in the Member States of the EU.

The objective of the European Year 2009 is to support not only creativity, but also the ability to make use of
innovation as key competences of all individuals. The tradition of the proclamation of the European Year has been in
existence since 1983. Since then the EU, often jointly with the Council of Europe, announces the theme for the
upcoming 12 months. The theme for the year 2006 was mobility of employees, for 2007 equal opportunities and for 2008
intercultural dialogue. The European Year dedicated to a concrete theme helps raise awareness of the given issue,
circulate information regarding time-tested approaches, stimulate political discussion and support active
citizenship.